Schools and libraries are just a few of the local authorities
making their services available on-line, using multimedia and
broadband systems that have to cope with massive public use while
staying within budget
Under pressure to make a wide range of services from libraries to
council tax collection available on-line, local authorities need
technology that not only provides the network infrastructure to do
this, but also manages and maximises performance too. In order to
deliver, they are having to install IP-based networks and
intranets, to provide connectivity that lets the general public and
employees access information and services.
Maximum performance
Managing bandwidth is a problem
that many local authorities face as they struggle with increasingly
bandwidth-hungry applications, while ensuring that costs are within
budget. Packeteer is one of many solution providers (SPs)
capitalising on this, using its Packetshaper management tool. "They
need to identify how connectivity and bandwidth is being used, by
application and by user," says Steve Wood, Packeteer's UK manager.
"They have a shared connection to the Internet, giving them a
certain amount of bandwidth, and need to partition that bandwidth
between departments based upon the applications they need."
In order to maximise network performance, authorities need to know
whether bandwidth is being hogged by users surfing the Internet,
playing games, and so on.
Technology such as the Packetshaper also helps local authorities to
cut costs by avoiding bandwidth bursts when traffic surges. "This
avoids expensive additional charges from the authority's ISP,"
claims Wood. Managers can allocate bandwidth usage based on a
priority system, so traffic generated by mission-critical
applications takes precedence over those deemed to be less
important.
Meeting demands
Security is, of course, also an issue.
"The need to modernise government systems should open up the
market," says Richard Mardling, the business development manager at
Enline. "Installing a platform like HP's Virtual Vault to handle
security enables local governments to allow traffic across their
networks with confidence," he says.
Systems integrator Xpert is also finding that its services are in
demand from authorities that want to deploy voice and data networks
that run multimedia applications, such as IP telephony and
streaming video. "We look to provide local authorities, schools and
libraries with an integrated strategy, a platform and a
foundation," says Gary Barton, southern sales manager. "We have
seen by implementing a foundation platform that building blocks
like IP telephony can be added on and we can start to implement
policies such as quality of service. This limits band-width being
used by IP telephony and video on an application by application
basis."
Barton claims that Xpert's implementation of a broadband network
for the London Borough of Kingston has opened other doors for the
company in this sector - Xpert has supplied networks for seven of
the 33 London Borough Councils.
Full contact
Contact centres are an important access
point for local authorities, an area in which STS Contact Centres
is finding new opportunities. "UK government directives have meant
that local services are to be enhanced, offering more information
and services on the Web," says managing director, Richard Betts.
"As these are directives, budget is being freed for their
realisation, yet knowledge of how to adopt new technologies is
inadequate - opening doors for VARS, consultancies and
integrators."
Installing a contact centre for the government's business advise
scheme, Prosper, has led to similar contracts. STS provides a range
of new contact centre technologies, e-business applications and
telephony integration services, and is a Cisco reseller for Call
Manager and Interactive Intelligence CIC systems (see page
30).
Prosper is a multimedia contact centre that can queue all mediums,
such as voice calls and e-mails, in recognition that consumers want
to have a choice in how they access contact centres. "Callers no
longer have to wait two weeks to receive a reply to their e-mails,"
says Betts.
Due to public and corporate demand, and thanks to SPs and
integrators, the new contact centres offer a usable, multimedia
service.